Erica Collier holds a portrait of her son King Collier Jr., who was killed in a driveby shooting outside the Parkway Gardens low-income housing project in June 2021. After nearly a year with no updates from detectives, Collier worries her son’s killing will never be solved.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
This afternoon will be cloudy with a high near 38 degrees and scattered rain and snow showers. Similar conditions will continue into tonight with a low around 30. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high near 47.
Chicago’s murder total last year surged to levels higher not seen in a quarter-century, but embattled police Supt. David Brown has frequently noted a positive data point amid the spike in violence: His department “cleared” more murder cases in 2021 than in any other year in nearly two decades.
The statistic on cases cleared is usually among the list of figures Brown cites in public remarks, alongside record numbers of handguns seized by officers and rising arrest totals for carjackings.
CPD detectives “cleared over 400 homicides in 2021,” Brown said at a January press conference, one of several times he’s mentioned the figure in public remarks. “That’t the most cleared in 19 years.”
Indeed, Chicago police closed exactly 400 murder cases in 2021, well above the average solved during each of the last several years, according to statistics provided in response to a public records request. That’s nearly 50 more cases closed than in 2020 and well above the average of 250 in each of the five years prior to that.
Based on the department’s official total of 797 murders in 2021, that amounted to a “clearance rate” of better than 50% last year.
But an analysis by the Sun-Times found that higher rate doesn’t mean many more people are being brought to justice than in years past.
In fact, a closer look at CPD’s clearance rate reveals that half of those cases —199 —were closed “exceptionally,” meaning that no suspect was charged. Under CPD policy, detectives are allowed to clear a case when the suspect is dead, prosecutors refuse to make a charge or police believe they know who did it but nevertheless don’t make an arrest.
Andy Grimm has the full story behind the data here.
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is best known for her vivid self-portraits that mix realism with fantasy, nature and Mexican culture.
She also had a love of photography and was an avid collector — having amassed nearly 6,000 photographs, some purchased, some gifts, some inherited.
Some of those images belonged to her family, others to her husband, painter Diego Riviera, but it was Kahlo who treasured the photographs and curated the collection.
Frida Kahlo — photographed by Lola Álvarez Bravo in 1944.
© Frida Kahlo Museum
Now, 240 of the photographs are featured in “Frida Kahlo, Her Photos,” a traveling exhibit on display in Pilsen at the National Museum of Mexican Art — opening tomorrow and running until Aug. 7.
When Kahlo died at 47 in 1954, Riviera locked away some of her art and objects in a closet at La Casa Azul, the Mexico City home — which is now the Frida Kahlo Museum — where they lived and where Kahlo grew up.
Fifty years later. the room was unlocked, and the long-unseen photographs were discovered.
Mary Houlihan has more on the collection here.
What do you think of Mayor Lightfoot’s plan to offer pre-paid gas and CTA cards for Chicagoans?
Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: What’s something in Chicago that you won’t find anywhere else?
Here’s what some of you said…
“Delish diverse food, Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile and Lake Michigan — just to name a few.” — Vanessa Amos
“Italian beef. Until I moved away, I didn’t realize that it was a Chicago thing. I thought they were everywhere.” — Nikki Dee
“You won’t find an 18-mile, uninterrupted lakefront trail anywhere else. And it’s much longer when you consider all the side trails.” — Gener Tenner
“The museums. I worked in one and met a lot of people who thought things in other museums were in the same place, because surely a city couldn’t have more than one excellent, huge museum!” — Margaret Laing
“Glass block windows in the shower.” — Natalie Peak
“Italian beef, the bean and a team that will probably take another 106 years to win again.” — Eric Levy
“Excellent public transportation.” — Terry Sanders
“The people! There’s nothing like a native Chicagoan! Throw in the food, museums, lakefront, sports teams, architecture, history, neighborhoods, festivals. You can leave Chicago, but Chicago never leaves you! And the best thing is whenever you meet another person from Chicago it’s like you are old friends!” — Joanne Budka-Clines
“As someone who is forced to spend a lot of time away from Chicago, I can vouch for a few things: the people, food and neighborhoods from every ethnicity and every background. More greenery in the summertime than even cities with a tropical climate. Most beautiful spring flowers and fall foliage. Great holiday spirit, no matter which holiday and what the weather. And friendly people who make eye contact and say hi as you walk past.” — Manisha Makwana
“The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, also Shedd Aquarium, Wrigley Field, O’Hare, etc.” — Mark Worcester
Editor’s note: Our Wednesday afternoon newsletter mistakenly referred to two stories under incorrect bylines. The review of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was written by AP’s Jake Coyle. The sports column about the Ricketts family and Chelsea FC was written by Steve Greenberg. We apologize for the errors.
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